Cards in Europe Review #6 |
@ether_fi
Rate: Excellent 🟢
I've been using Etherfi for a long time. It has consistently been one of the best benchmarks for spending through borrowed assets, and they keep shipping new things. When they claimed EUR stablecoin spending at 1:1, I had to test it properly.
So here they are: Two tests. Two different modes. Both with euro assets.
Test 1: Converted EURC to Liquid EUR (the yield-bearing version) and used it as collateral to open a USD credit line. Spent €26 on a burger and beers.
Credit line: $30.19
FX rate: 1.1611
A note on FX benchmarks: I reference onchain FX as the real mid-market rate. Google gives a reference, but onchain FX, pulled from deep Uniswap liquidity pools, is the most efficient price available.
Etherfi routes all conversions and cross-currency settlements through onchain FX. That matters a lot imo.
Repayment only accepts USD tokens (USDC or Liquid USD). If you deposited EURC to spend in Europe, that is a few extra steps you shouldn't need. The onchain swap runs at 0.86 €/USD. The rate is right, the flow could be improved here.
Test 2: Mueller Berlin. €47.55, paid directly in EURC at 1:1.
The onchain FX that day was 1% better than Visa's rate.
One friction point here: to pay in EURC you have to go
Direct Pay → Assets → Set spend priority → manually select EURC.
If you have EURC or Liquid EUR in your wallet and the merchant charges in EUR, the app should recognize that and route it there by default. That auto-detection is the obvious next step.
One feature I haven't seen anywhere else: attach a receipt (PDF or image) to every transaction, add notes, assign a cost center, tag a custom category. Email reminder to create the receipt included. That's a full expense tracking layer inside a crypto card.
PS: 3% cashback on EUR spend. Still figuring out whether it lands as ETH or EUR stablecoin. Not to be compared, but worth mentioning.